Cooling bed



Feb, 26 E9240 HAMJW .11. ER. KLUMP COOLING BED Filed March 23, 1922 2 Sheets$heet 3i Feb 26 19240 1 44,71?

.11. R. KLUMP COOLING BED Filed March 23. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wetented Feb. 26, R9241 natal are JOSH R. KLUMP, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO INTERSTATE IRON STEEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COOLING BED.

Application filed March 23, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH RICHARD KLUMP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, having invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cooling Beds, do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to cooling beds used in handling hot metal bars as they are delivered from the reducing-rolls of a rollingmill, and consists in the novel and useful constructions herein described and then pointed out in. the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a practical embodiment of the features of my invention and in which the same reference numerals indicate similar parts in the different views, Fig. l is a top plan view of a longitudinal portion of a cooling bed of well-known construction and operation equipped with my invention, the discharge end of the horizontal section of the bed and the bars under treatment being shown as broken-away for convenience of illustration; Fig. 2 is a detail vertical sectional view on the line 22 in Fig. 1 with the parts in their positions when no bars are passm from the inclined section of the bed to its orizontal section; Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views showing parts in various positions when bars are passing over the bed, Fig. 5 is a detail view of a part of the rack an guide, and Fig. 6 is a detail view.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved guide for the bars as they pass from the inclined gravity section of the bed to the initial pocket of the horizontal section, and one that is particularly adapted for use when the bed 1s handling flat stock in packs to permit the annealing livered from the reducing-rolls.

on the bed of material of small cross-section, such as flat spring stock, which would otherwise cool too fast on the bed to pass the required specifications unless it were annealed later.

, Referring to the accompanying drawings which show my invention the reference letter A designates a long trou h or runout table provided with a series 0 feed-rolls a which project through openings into the trough and conveythe metal bar as it is de- In practice the trough is usually long enough to Serial No. 545,944.

the trough A so that upon oscillation of the shafts they will transfer the bar out of the trough to the bed, and the other arms are arranged in staggered relation on opposite sides of each shaft and extend radially to project alternately into vertical position to form escapement stops or dogs above the skids as the shafts are oscillated, the corresponding dogs of the shafts being arranged in a straight row extending longitudinally of the bed so that the hot metal bars a: will be preserved in straight lines. Suitable mechanism which is well-known and forms no part of my present invention, and so need not be here shown and described, actuates the rocking-shafts so that they are simultaneously rocked back and forth to allow the bars lying on the skids to move by gravity successively down them from one row of dogs to the next lower row until they pass one by one from the last row upon the inclined guides B at the lower end of the skid-section B by which they are delivered to the front or leading pocket of the horizontal section of the cooling bed. The skid-beams may have vertical ribs b in staggered relation.

The rack-section of the cooling bed is composed of a series of parallel horizontal racks D arranged respectively in line with the skid-beams as shown in Fig. 1. Each rack unit is composed of a base d and marginal vertical webs d provided with a series of troughs or ockets D which are V-shaped in cross-sectlon, the corresponding pockets of the racks being arranged in straight lines. The faces of the pockets may have vertical ribs 03 in staggered relation. Suitable mechanism of well-known construction, designated generally .at D may be employed to lift and move the bars from each pocket and deposit them in the next one and discharge them upon the assembly- -the racks; This feature is advantageous when the bars are handled singly as the table (not shown), and when the bars are to be arranged in packs m the inclined guides B will be formed as jointed arms.

and the lower arms will be actuated from below to oscillate to diflerent positions in relation to the leading faces'of. the initial pockets as shown in the drawings as now well-understood to form packing-mechanism to deliver the bars from the skid-section of the bed to the first row of ockets in the rack-section so that they will e disposed therein in a pack as shown at m; mechanisms for both these purposes are now well-known and form no part of my invention and so need not be here described in detail. The lower arms B may be actuated by links B pivoted thereto and to crankarms B fixed on an operating shaft B as shown in Fig. 6, the length of the stroke of the arms being controlled by the operator.

Arranged above the bed at spaced intervals are a plurality of stock guides E; each consists of an elongated curved spring arm attached at one end to the outer portion of the trough A and extending thence above one of the skids B in an upwardly curved contour and having its free or outer end disposed between the webs d of the corresponding rack D of the horizontal section. In practice the guides are formed of flat strips of spring-metal, about two. (2) inches wide, and the free end e of each extends above the top line of the webs and thence inwardly in. a line tangential to the plane of the inner or leading face of the first notch or pocket of the rack; the end of the guide is approximately in this plane and its under face gradually departs outwardly from this plane and forms an upwardly opening or flared mouth between its end and the leading face of the initial pocket as shown in Fig. 2 when the bars are handled singly, and also between its end and the movable arm of the packingdevice B as shown in Fig. 3 when the bars are being accumulated in a pack. By this construction the guide contacts with the bar only at its leading point as the latter moves into'the first pocket or notch of the horizontal section of the bed. The tips 6 of the guides are curved outwardly to allow the bars to more easily wipe past them in passing out of the pockets. The guides are 10- eated at suitable points along the length of the bed, being spaced apart longitudinally thereof at such dlstances as the length of the bars requires; if desired a guide may be provided at each rack D.

When the bars pass from the inclined section of the bed to the horizontal section they move under the guides E, which hold them from turning and ensure their uniform emplacement in the initial notch or pocket of guidesprevent them from unevenly passing down the inner or leading faces of the first notches at difierent points in their length and so hold them against any twisting or deforming action that would then occur, especially in bars of considerable length. lit is especially advantageous when the cooling bed is handling fiat stock in packs as it prevents the flat bars from turning and also ensures their being seated withuniform motion so that all are properly positioned and alined in the pack; as shown at x in Fig. 3 all the bars are guided edgewise into the pack. When handling fiat stock or' bars, such for example as spring steel or other material of small cross-section, it is desirable to cool them in packs as this permits the annealing of the material; the heat from the center of the pack anneals its, surfaces, vit being understood that the critical temperature for properly annealing the'material is reached by the time the pack is lifted from the third row of pockets of the racks. To successfully anneal the pack in the bed it is desirable to minimize the extent of their contact with colder metal therein and so prevent the latter from drawing the heat from these portions of the bars faster than the heat from the other portions of the pack can evenly anneal them. By locating the guides E between the webs of the racks these parts are offset in the direction of travel of the bars so that any portions of the bars that may be chilled by them are out of line and will be reheated to the temperature of the other parts of the pack by the exchange of heat by conduction from the large nonchilled portion to the small chilled portion. As the guides seat the bars edgewise they are valuable in packing or accumulating them in the first notch of the horizontal portion of the bed in an arrangement that secures uniformity in packing and permits the anneal.- ing of the material in the bed, and the tangential relation of the end of the guide to the leading face of the notch so that it touches each bar only at its leading point and in a restricted area limited to 'a transverse line or edge e of the guide reduces the chilling action of the guide itself to a minisucceeding bar of the pack is negligible in chilling efiect.

When the machine is handling either single bars or packs the transfer mechanism lifts and carries the material forward from notch to notch in the horizontal section of the bed and then dischar es it upon asuitable assembly table (not iown), and as the material is carried out of the first notch the free ends of the guides are raised and the material wipes past them as shown in Fig. 4, the shape of the tips of the guides permit-- ting a single bar to pass without turning it and permitting a pack to pass without dision 115 mum; the contact of the guides with each turbing the upper bar thereof. After the material clears the guides they spring back into their normal positions. I I claim:

1. In a cooling bed, an inclined skid-section, a horizontal rack-section having a se-.

ries of pockets arranged in rows along its len%h, and a guide located at the initial poc et of each of a plurality of the racks and constructed to restrain the stock from turning as it passes from the skid-section to the rack-section.

2. In a cooling bed, an inclined skid-section, a horizontal rack-section having a series of pockets arranged in rows along its length, packing-mechanism between the sections, and a guide located at the initial pocket of each of a plurality of the racks and constructed to restrain the stock from turning as it passes from the skid-section and the packing-mechanism to the rack-section.

3. In a cooling bed, an inclined skid, a

horizontal rack having spaced "ertical webs provided with a series of pockets, and a stock-guide consisting of a spring-metal strip secured at one end to the bed and extendng above the line of the Webs and terminating at its free end between the Webs at the initial pocket of the rack.

4. In a cooling bed, an inclined skid, a horizontal rack having vertical Webs provided with a series of V-shaped pockets, and a stock-guide consisting of a spring-metal strip mounted on the bed and having its free end tangential to the plane of the leading face of the initial pocket of the rack.

5. In a cooling bed, an inclined skid, a horizontal rack having a series of V-shaped pockets, and a stock-guide at the initial pocket of the rack constructed to form a flared mouth with the leading face of the pocket and having its tip curved away from said face.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOSEPH R. KLUMP. 

